Thursday, August 9, 2012

BACK HOME FROM VACATION

We returned home from vacation yesterday evening after a week in the Smokey Mountains and a few days in Ohio with family. A good trip.

We stopped at a some antique malls but saw very few quilts. No really impressive quilts. I took a few pictures.

I found a Double Wedding Ring quilt on an antique child's bed. You can't really tell from the picture but the only fabric left on the quilt was the rings. All the background fabric was gone and only batting showing. Not even worth being a cutter quilt.

I saw other quilts but none were particularly old or interesting. I suppose collectors have already snapped up the good quilts or they are with antique quilt dealers. I did not come across any vintage sewing tools. My favorite antique mall in New Philadelphia, Ohio did not tempt me to purchase anything. That's a first.

I shopped at Deb's Cats and Quilts and A Stitch In Time in Franklin, North Carolina. And Quilters Quarters in Waynesville, NC. All three shops managed to get some of my money. Here is an interesting display I saw at Deb's Cats and Quilts. I loved the doll bed with the little quilt.

At A Stitch In Time, I saw the Singer Featherweight painted a candy apple red and modified into a lamp. I don't think you could sew on the machine so I don't know if it was a working machine before modification. I did not ask.

I also shopped at The Woolen Willow in Williamstown, West Virginia. Lots of prim style in this shop. If you have a subscription or purchase copies of the "Primitive Quilts and Projects", the shop is owned by the owners of the magazine. So much to look at. I stayed out of the prim decor section of the shop. It is in separate rooms and I could see from a quick look that it would be way too tempting. And not practical for us to get back home in an already packed car. Anyhow, a stop at the shop is well worth it if you are traveling on Interstate 77 close to the Ohio-West Virginia border. I could have purchased way more than I did and believe me, I did manage to do some damage to the pocket book there.

I found a nice featherweight sewing machine and case at the antique mall in New Philadelphia, Oh. Would have been tempting if I didn't already have two of them. None of the other antique/vintage machines that I found on the trip tempted me.

I read a good book on vacation called "True Sisters" by Sandra Dallas. The book is fiction but is based on true stories about the migration of Mormon converts making a long journey from overseas to Utah with two-wheeled carts that they pushed and pulled 1,300 miles. It takes place in 1856. The hardships they endured! And so many died. I am not of the Mormon faith and the book has characters with different views on the religion, so it was a good read. I have read all but one of Sandra Dallas's books and all are good. Quilting or quilts come into each book in some way but are not the main focus of the stories.

I am washing my new fabrics and will be folding them shortly. Fun to think about what I could create with them. Have a good day and take time to play with some of your fabric too.

26 comments:

Welcome back Karen!Happy to hear you had an enjoyable vacation!I like reading books by Sandra Dallas. (don't have the one you are reading though)Can't wait to see what you create from the fabrics you collected on your travels!

Oh you sound like you had a great trip! You know, I know that the double wedding ring quilt probably saw better days, but that one really appealed to me. I like how it was displayed too.

I have been to the Woolen Willow and isn't it fantastic? You have great discipline, I can't go into places like that, crowded vehicle or not, without grabbing up some goodies. I would probably come close to making the hubby walk home so I could pile some things into his seat! hahah No, I'm just kidding...a little.

That is some fancy doll bed!I love that red machine, but would prefer it not as a lamp!I haven't read anything by Sandra Dallas, but this sounds intriguing. I have ancestors that came to Utah by way of the handcart companies.

Oh my gosh I was at the Woolen Willow last Wen! I've been wanting to go there for years (it's about a 3 hour drive from Pittsburgh) It's a good thing it's not closer-one of those shops I would go broke in or have to beg them to let me work there!!Good that you had a nice vacation!!

Oh dear I hope the antique dealers haven't snapped up ALL the quilts! And I'm horrified at the conversion of the featherweight, lol...I would have asked. Or maybe not. ARGH. A featherweight is on my list!

It seems you had lots of fun at all the shops you visited while away! I'll have to check out that book for my next trip when I visit Florida...you know in case the light is too dark to quilt! Always have to have a good book loaded on the kindle...